MRSA not as deadly as many people think, one doctor says

A new drug Dalbavancen has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. It could combat Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a disease that scares a lot of people.

"It's a form of staff, resistant to a particular kind of antibiotic called Methicillin," Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician Dr. Jim Wilde said.

Dr. Wilde said the problem is most antibiotics can't fight MRSA.

"MRSA is more difficult to treat than standard staff infections and you need different antibiotics," Dr. Wilde said.

He said there are two types: one is from the hospital and the other comes from the community. The new drug would only treat hospital infections.

"The hospital acquired MRSA can cause blood infections and are only treatable with I.V. medications"

But Dr. Wilde said MRSA is more common than people think.

"In our own emergency department, we see 20-25 MRSA cases every week."

Dr. Wilde said it isn't all deadly.

"MRSA is in the environment," Dr. Wilde said, "If you go into a daycare or a school at random and test kids, you'll find 20 percent or more have it on their bodies, but it doesn't mean they're infected."

One the places it is said to be found is on airplanes, but Dr. Wilde said it isn't more dangerous there than anywhere else.

Dr. Wilde said if someone has a sore, his advice is to cover it, but warns that doesn't mean they need to be excluded from school or work. He said the only change is to make sure someone with MRSA doesn't play contact sports until it is cleared up.

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